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Interview w/Peter Newton

Peter Newton (left) is a regular around the Newcastle poker scene, often visiting with his beautiful wife Karen and on occasions his young son Craig. I'm absolutely delighted to introduce Peter as my twelfth guest here at FTP, in the tank by popular demand as a number of regular FTP readers and NPF affiliates have suggested Peter takes the hot seat.

This guy is an absolute gentleman who despite all his success, is so humble in his take on poker and win or lose always leaves the table in the same casual gracious manner.

DT "When and how did you get started playing poker? Did you have any inspirational poker players, books, moments, shows, etc. that were instrumental for you?."

PN “I watched late night poker on ch4 when I rolled in from the pub I was hooked straight away.Then I heard Dave"cameltoe" Atkinson talking about it at work so he showed me how to download ultimatebet and I played the playmoney for a couple of months until I deposited $25 and played a sngo finished 2nd ran that upto $250 then blew the lot.Then I read supersystems, deposited another $25 and never looked back.I read every poker book going at the time, Super System and Harrington on holdem,scot fischmans and Helmuths 1st book were helpful at the time, but these books are so outdated now and the best way to learn is online training sites or hiring a coach.Thedevilfish was the star of late night poker also enjoyed watching Ram Vaswani and Liam Flood.Locally I learnt alot watching and playing against Steven Lui a brilliant player who crushed the live and online game but always had fun when he played, he rarely talked poker with me but once in a while he would give me a tip about my game which was always spot on and helped me alot.”

DT "Your NPF screen name is stumpy, how did this come to fruition?. Do you have any other nicknames?.”

PN “When I first played Sunday morning football I was 17 and one of the lads said I had legs like tree stumps and he started calling me Stumpy and it just stuck, and its been passed onto my son Craig who gets Stumpy (bigstumpy) on the NPF.”

DT “If you had only six months left to live, what would you do with the time?.”

PN “Spend as much time as possible with my family and friends and enjoy myself as much as possible or if possible ask if the 6 months could be in 2060?.”

DT “You've been in the game a long time, what are the biggest changes you've seen in poker? Do you consider these to be changes for better or for worse?.”

PN “The game didnt change much until the last 3 years since then the internet phenoms have changed the game out of all reconigtion,The main change is the importance of hole cards in the past they were very important now the hole cards are secondary and the betting is the key.For me this is for the better as ive enjoyed learning and changing my game over the last 3 years.Locally the game has changed loads when i first started playing, every night was a rebuy the pots were huge everynight which was great if you were winning but the longterm losers were going broke and the games started to die its gradually recovering but tbh i dont think we will ever see the pots we had over those few years every night.The biggest thing to happen to me was joining the npf giving me the chance to play poker in a fun enviroment so not playing for as much money as in the past but having alot more fun while playing.The npf has allowed me to meet some great people and make loads of new friends and also helped improve my game.”

DT “If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?.”

PN “It would have to be with a top sportsman so I could play in the open golf or the FA Cup final or maybe swap with middy for the duration of the WSOP.”

DT “Where do you think the game is going long-term? Locally and globally?.”

PN “Locally it will carry on as it has in the past going thro highs and lows,globally I think the game will continue to grow over the next 5 years after that im not too sure what the future will be.”

DT “How do you like to spend your downtime away from the poker table?.”

PN “Well I used to play rugby on a Saturday and football on a Sunday and a few games of golf untill I hurt my knee hopefully I can still play golf, I managed 9 holes since the op and hopefully play alot more this year.I walk my dog Tilley a black lab at least once a day thro the woods around prudhoe which I really enjoy.I enjoy going out for a nice meal and a bottle of wine with Kaz.I also watch any sport on tele and enjoy gambling on the horses.”

DT “What kind of mix have you been playing - online vs. live and tourney vs. cash?.”

PN “When im on my workdays I play sngos or sometimes I can fit live mtts in, on my days off im playing online mtts aswell as live mtts,nowadays I only play cash if i get knocked out and im waiting for Karen.,Online I have banned myself from playing cash as I havent studied it but I usually get tempted a few times a year and end off blowing some cash its happened twice so far this year hopefully wont do it again.”

DT “You've been married to the beautiful Karen Newton for a number of years now, tell us a bit about this relationship? How did you guys meet? When did you get married? Etc.”

PN “We first met when she used to come and watch the football on a sunday morning when I played for Mickley where Kaz lived,I was in the club and Kaz was babysitting for 1 of the players ,and his wife said she fancied me so I was pissed and walked down and knocked on the door and said hi Kaz have you got a boyfriend? she says no and I said well you have now, yuk I was such a charmer,That was in Feb 1983, when I was 18 and Karen 15, we got engaged on Christmas day in 1984 and married in April 1987 and weve been together ever since, and its are 25th wedding anniversary next year which we will be celebrating with a trip to Vegas.I was so lucky to meet and marry Karen as we get on so well and she is my best freind and soulmate.”

DT “What advice would you give to new players?.”

PN “Have a seperate poker bankroll to your life bankroll,be a bankroll nit,pick a game you want to play, i chose sngos when i started, and hammer these untill you are crushing them moving up the levels as you go hopefully this will give you a good bankroll to play and learn other games in my case mtts.join an online training site i use cardrunners.Always look for ways to improve your game.”

DT “You drive trains for GNER for a living, how did your career end up taking this route? Would you recommend a career driving trains to today's youth?.”

PN “I was working in prudhoe mental hospital as a nursing assistant when my dad came home from work, he worked for British Rail as a public relation officer and he said do you want to be a train driver I said yeah what do I need to do, I filled a few forms in got an interview and got the job worked as a drivers assistant until I got on the drivers course which was very intensive and passed my exams and started driving in 1989 its a fantastic job apart from the shifts I hate getting up in the mornings but luckily I can normally swap for late turns which fits in nicely with the poker.Deffo recommend the job as a train driver 40k a year 35 hour week.”

DT “Your affiliated with Teamdobbs, but I understand their was some controversy surrounding your appointment in the early days. I'm not familiar with the full details, but weren't you first a founding member of Northern Lights?. Tell us a little about that situation, and how it all unfolded?.”

PN “I met Teamdobb on Carribean poker cruise so when I got back I got involved in the NPF and was asked to play for the Northern Lights in the teamgame didnt think this was a longterm thing but really enjoyed the event a while later Dave asked me to join teamdobbs I snapped his hand off, I didnt realise until Dawn said she wasnt very happy with Dave about poaching players and me for jumping ship, but for me been such a great friend of Dave I always hoped to join Teamdobbs.Was really happy to win the cardguard cup with a combined NorthernLlights and Dobber team, now that was a great night.”

DT "I understand along with Dave Collins your quite a regular and successful might I add backer, what’s your thoughts on staking in poker? Do you only invest if you see it as highly likely you’ll get an ROI or are you more motivated to give individuals a chance to play an event they otherwise wouldn’t have been bankrolled to play?."

PN “I started out by helping Spoona then Samj started tagging along,Spoona said he couldnt win online so I said i would show him how to win at sngos they started coming to my house and turned them into winning sngo players then I backed them to play mtts then there was always staking threads on the forum if its a small stake we will invest in nearly anyone, well apart from simmy3k as tbh nearly anyone can win a tournament but when it comes to full mtt schedule we will only back players who are proven winners and good value in the games.So the answer to your question is a bit of both I like and try to help all the young players when asked but we have been very lucky, we have had some great returns and very lucky when we have staked.”

DT “I know you headed out to Las Vegas for your first visit last year (2010), what was that experience like? I know the company you kept was ace which goes along way?. Future plans to visit Las Vegas, can I expect to see you for a few drinks in 2012?.”

PN “Went to vegas last year with the cgk,stevie sensation and gaz walker and loads more npfers i had a great time it was my 1st time ive been to vegas and the place is awesome cant wait to get back next year and have another shot at a wsop event.Going with karen next year for our 25 year anniversary and im sure every year after that as i know mrs stumpy will love it.”

DT “What does the close of 2011 and opening of 2012 hold for Peter Newton? Can we expect to see you frequenting the local Newcastle poker circuit? Plans to follow any UK tours (UKIPT, GUKPT, etc).

PN “yup much of the same playing locally and trying to play a few bigger games when my job lets me, i still love the game and enjoy the mix of playing live and online.one day i would love to play the wsop main event so if anyone wants to stake me for $5k for 50% let me know.”

I hope all you guys enjoyed this brilliant insight into one of Newcastle pokers nice guys, his success both live and online should be applauded. Many young and up and coming players can learn so much from this guy, everything from a winning strategy to conducting yourself at the table. All here at FTP would like to wish you continued success in the future mate, both on and off the green felt.